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Elethyn Crane
Elethyn Crane is a Val'kyr Lord who studied under Lord Ryder and is notable for being the youngest Val'kyr to reach the rank of "Lord." She is currently first in line for Warlord in the event of Lord Ryder's death. She's the fifth of Lord Ryder's apprentices and the wife of Ascentia Crane. She is also the leader of the Crane Coven. History Elethyn was discovered as a small child in the dead forests of Er'din by Lord Ryder. She was marred with scars and bruises from the abuse she suffered at the hands of her mother, and was possessed with a surprising amount of nihilism for such a little girl. Ryder, quickly noticing just how badly her mother was treating her, gave her the choice to come with him and she agreed. Elethyn was placed in Sutanu's care for her early life, taking lessons from Lord Ryder and staying in Sutanu's quarters until she turned twelve and was moved to her own quarters. At this point, she became Ryder's apprentice and studied under him, advancing rapidly to the rank of Master at twenty-two. Elethyn joined the Siege of Canterlot at this point and was ultimately the catalyst in the Val'kyr abandoning the war. Elethyn, noticing that Ascentia was being mistreated by her wife and running herself to the bone from stress, took it upon herself to relieve Ascentia's stress and take care of her mental health. Princess Twilight, angry that Elethyn was interfering with her marriage, attempted to sell her out to the Stonehoofs. This treachery proved to be too much for the Val'kyr to tolerate as Ascentia broke off her marriage to Twilight and Ryder recalled his forces. Lord Ryder, seeing that Twilight had been treating Ascentia like a trophy, had hoped that Elethyn would bring Twilight's behavior to light, as Ascentia refused to listen to him owing to his long-standing distaste for mortals. Elethyn went far beyond that, and Ryder was grateful to her for saving his apprentice and promoted her to Lord. In gratitude for everything she'd done for her, Ascentia brewed the Elixir of Life for Elethyn, making her immortal. A few days later, Elethyn became Ascentia's new girlfriend and the two got married six years later. After hearing from Sutanu about Armageddon's sapient nature, she tried to investigate it with Ascentia. When she touched it, the sword screamed at her to murder her wife, to which Elethyn was horrified. When Ascentia touched her shoulder, she jolted and cut her hand, resulting in the skin starting to fizzle away from her palm and up her arm. In an effort to stop the injury spreading, Ascentia hastily cut her hand off at the forearm, leaving Elethyn crippled. She would later acquire a magical prosthetic constructed from Saronite and Fel Magic to replace her hand and forearm. 15,000 years after the Siege of Canterlot, Elethyn sustained fatal injuries in a fight with Naz'ryth and was dying too quickly to save. Acting in desperation, Ascentia tore out her own soul to power magic intended to rapidly heal her. This saved Elethyn, though she spent a year in physical therapy as her body recovered from the trauma of both the fight and the subsequent healing, and left Ascentia without any powers. Elethyn felt guilty for Ascentia sacrificing her powers and spent a while sincerely believing that she was not worthy of such a price. This belief seemed to fade after she saw just how much Ascentia begged her not to leave her there alone in the Memory Plane just before healing her. Several years later, Elethyn took Ascentia with her to confront her mother, but the two were kidnapped and Ascentia violently tortured in an attempt to traumatize her so badly she couldn't look at Elethyn ever again. While this was a failure and the two were rescued by Valithria and Sutanu, Elethyn was distraught over what she had put Ascentia through and briefly considered ending their marriage for Ascentia's sake. This idea did not last long, as Elethyn was met with a hailstorm of criticism when she shared this with Valithria. Personality Elethyn was a somewhat cheery individual, with a tendency toward anxiety. Being the only mortal in the Capital, with a Warlord who was notorious for disliking mortals, Elethyn felt a need to prove herself as worthy of being there. She was considerably more resourceful than any other apprentice and possessed the creative thinking that Ryder respected and valued from all acolytes. Elethyn, being mortal before Ascentia brewed her the Elixir of Life, was the fastest to mature and the wisest of all of Ryder's apprentices. Due to her early childhood, she was generally more capable of spotting dishonest or abusive behavior than the other apprentices, for whom abuse was an alien concept. Martyr Complex Elethyn was afflicted by a severe and debilitating martyr complex. Elethyn liked to believe she sacrificed a great deal for others and suffered for it, however this was an exaggerated belief and she would usually spend more time bemoaning her struggle. She would often have a crisis when this belief was contradicted by Ascentia, who routinely sacrificed for her out of love. When Ascentia burned her soul to save her, Elethyn was wracked with anger and guilt over it. She constantly repeated that she wasn't worth more than Ascentia, and resented her for now needing assitance with her mobility. When Ascentia was tortured by her mother, Elethyn even considered ending their marriage out of that guilt. Elethyn's martyr complex was frequently contested by Sutanu, especially after the Skirmish at Crane Manor where she transformed into her demon form as she screamed at Elethyn that this was not about her. Valithria also had a habit of yanking Elethyn back to reality when she started on her usual spiel. Both of them lambasted her for even considering abandoning Ascentia at such a vulnerable time. Relationships Lord Ryder Elethyn and Ryder have a considerably more involved relationship than Ryder has to his other students. Elethyn frequently visits him to converse and values his input. Ryder seems to be quite genuinely proud of Elethyn, as he has made her his successor. Ascentia Crane Elethyn and Ascentia were always relatively close, but as the Siege of Canterlot started winding down their relationship became increasingly more intimate. Elethyn was the catalyst for Ascentia to learn how abusive Twilight was being toward her and that she was a callous and manipulative woman. When Ascentia ended her marriage with Twilight and brewed Elethyn the Elixir of Life, the two of them quickly became a couple. They married six years later. Elethyn loves Ascentia deeply and is committed to ensuring that she never experiences anything as horrible as Twilight's abuse ever again. Elethyn didn't take it well when she learned that Ascentia burned her soul to save her from the injuries she sustained at the hand of Naz'ryth, believing that she wasn't worth such a sacrifice. Trivia *Elethyn was created by Lizzy Orchard for her fantasy novel Dark Magic. The Elethyn in Tale of the Valkyrie deviates massively from the canonical Elethyn to avoid potential spoilers for Lizzy's book. Category:Feminine Category:Val'kyr Category:Main Characters Category:Guest Characters